Potash Corp. fell $4.79, 3.3 percent to $142.53 at 4:15
p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the most
since June 29. The government is becoming more skeptical of
Melbourne-based BHP’s $130-a-share offer and Industry Minister
Tony Clement is being swayed by comments from Saskatchewan
Premier Brad Wall, who opposes the offer, the Globe and Mail
reported, citing unidentified people.

“The deal uncertainty is weighing on the stock,” Edlain Rodriguez, a New York-based analyst at Gleacher & Co., said in a
telephone interview. “That’s going to be the short-term
focus.”

Potash Corp., which today reported third-quarter profit
that beat analysts’ estimates, has rejected BHP’s bid as too low
and said it was seeking alternative proposals. The Canadian
government is to decide by Nov. 3 whether to approve or reject
the transaction based on a calculation of the transaction’s
benefit to the country.

BHP officials are concerned that Canada may ask it to make
“extravagant” concessions as part of the takeover, forcing the
company to walk away, the Globe and Mail said.

‘No Basis’

“That is not BHP Billiton’s position,” Ruban Yogarajah, a
BHP spokesman, said in a telephone interview.

“We have absolute confidence in the integrity of the
Investment Canada review process,” Yogarajah said. “We
continue to have ongoing negotiations with the investment review
division.”

The Globe story has no basis in fact, Lynn Meahan, a
spokeswoman for Investment Canada, a division of the Industry
Department, said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Potash Corp.’s net income climbed to $402.7 million, or
$1.32 a share, from $247.9 million, or 82 cents, a year earlier,
the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company said in a statement.
Per-share profit topped the $1.16 average estimate of 25
analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Potash Corp.’s total sales in the quarter rose 43 percent
to $1.58 billion from $1.1 billion, more than the $1.34 billion
estimated by 16 analysts surveyed.

‘Committed Bidder’

“BHP remains a serious and committed bidder” for Potash
Corp., Paul Galloway, a London-based analyst at Sanford C.
Bernstein Ltd., said today in a note to clients. He estimates
BHP will have to raise its per-share offer to $156 to complete
the transaction.

A group of Saskatchewan native groups, merchant banks,
pension funds and foreign investors is trying to complete a
counterbid for Potash Corp., the StarPhoenix newspaper said
today, citing First Nations spokesmen and without naming the
banks and funds.

Ed Stelmach, premier of Alberta, said he supports
Saskatchewan’s opposition to the proposed takeover, the
StarPhoenix reported. Saskatchewan’s potash resources are “very
strategic” to the province and the rest of the country, the
newspaper quoted Stelmach as saying.

Potash Corp. boosted its forecast for full-year earnings to
$5.75 to $6 a share from a previous prediction of $5 to $5.50.
It also projects 2011 profit of $8 to $8.75 a share. Twenty-six
analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated on average earnings of
$7.83 next year.

Potash Sales

The company sold 1.9 million metric tons of potash in the
quarter, up from 1.01 million tons a year earlier. That beat the
1.5 million-ton average of three estimates from Horst Hueniken,
a Toronto-based analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., and two other
analysts.

“The process of replenishing nutrients accelerated quickly
and tangibly in the third quarter,” Potash Corp. Chief
Executive Officer Bill Doyle said in the statement.

Potash Corp. raised its 2011 global forecast for
industrywide potash demand next year to 55 million tons to 60
million tons from a previous prediction of 55 million.

The company’s average selling price for potash fell to
$305.60 a ton in the three-month period, from $308.64 in the
previous quarter and $389.24 a year earlier.